Andrew Warner of The Next New Thing runs through nine GitHub projects that can replace paid business software. The useful frame is not merely “free”: because the tools are self-hostable and customizable, an agent can adapt them to a specific workflow — or they can become the foundation of a consulting service.

Find and convert customers

  • PostHog — product analytics, funnels, retention, session replay and experiments; use it to find where customers abandon a site, or sell conversion-leak audits to businesses paying for Mixpanel.
  • OpenSEO — self-hosted keyword research and rank tracking that can feed custom dashboards or a CRM; Warner suggests letting an agent operate it or using it as the backbone of an SEO service.
  • Typebot — conversational forms with branching, media blocks, WhatsApp and Zapier integrations; turn flat email-capture pages into product finders, qualification flows and segmented follow-up.

Charge and get paid

  • Invoice Ninja — quotes, invoices, subscriptions and automated reminders without per-seat pricing; useful for turning retainers into recurring billing or modernizing invoicing for local service businesses.
  • Cal.diy — a self-hosted booking page that checks multiple calendars, adds meeting links and can collect payment or a refundable deposit before someone schedules.
  • Autumn — open-source pricing and billing for subscriptions, trials and metered plans, including per-request or per-token charging for software with usage-driven costs.

Run sales, marketing and support

  • Frappe CRM — a customizable lead-and-deal pipeline with email, calls, tasks, Twilio and social lead capture; deploy it for a sales team without adding another per-seat bill.
  • Mautic — self-hosted email marketing, landing pages, lead scoring, SMS and visual campaigns; Warner positions it as an owned alternative to expensive marketing-automation suites.
  • Chatwoot — an omnichannel support inbox with unlimited internal seats and bring-your-own AI; build order-status bots, route harder cases to humans and avoid paying for every occasional support user.

The recurring business pattern

  • Use the software directly to replace a growing SaaS bill while keeping control of the data and workflow.
  • Let an agent inspect the system, customize it and surface next actions instead of treating the repo as a static clone of a commercial product.
  • As a consultant, find businesses using the expensive incumbent, migrate them to the open tool, then charge for setup, customization and ongoing maintenance.
  • The tradeoff is real: “free” software still needs hosting, upgrades and operational care, so the consulting value is not imaginary — it moves spending from licenses to implementation and support.

“This is about more than just free. It’s about customization.” — Andrew Warner